I have enjoyed the several times in which we have lost power. It might have been due to a snow storm or a hurricane or an overload on the grid. There have been times when it was a huge inconvenience. But the there were those times I enjoyed the loss. Really enjoyed the loss. The blackout.

Those nights…..

My family was all home safe. No school. No work. No technology. No electronics. Life simplified.

The last such power loss occurred last winter. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. After everyone was in bed, I sat by our fireplace maintaining the fire and reading for hours by candlelight. There was something serene and comforting about the combination of heat and light.

The candle, flickering with its light, casting shadows. Dispelling the darkness. One candle was all that I needed to read with ease. And that got me to thinking….

I will never be able to give out what I do not have for myself. And neither will you.

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life. (Philippians 2: 15b-16a, NLT)

Paul instructs us here to hold firmly to the word of life, to Scripture.  We must each do that for ourselves. We are responsible to read Scripture and allow it to be active in our lives each day. We must intentionally and deliberately allow God’s Word to affect our lives.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life. (Philippians 2:14-16, NIV).

It is as I allow God to work in my life, transforming me and making me blameless, that I will shine in a darkened world. Our lives can become a part of the illumination to the world around us. We can be a breath of fresh air in a world that is desperate for something pure and wholesome and godly.

To hold out the Word of life, I must hold on to the Word of Life.

(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net/Gualberto 107)

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